Sex offender held for forgery

YORKTOWN – A convicted sex offender has been accused of forging checks he stole from senior citizens he did odd jobs for.

Matthew Landon Bowling, 30, 9404 W. High St., was arrested this week on preliminary charges of forgery, fraud and theft.

According to a probable cause affidavit, Yorktown police received a complaint July 25 about checks being stolen from two senior citizens. A local woman — the daughter and granddaughter of the alleged victims — said Bowling had done odd jobs for her and her mother.

Yorktown officer Larry Harless determined three stolen checks, totaling $350, were cashed at one local bank, and seven other checks, for a total of $585, were cashed at another. At least some of the checks were made out to “Landon Bowling,” the affidavit said, and bank photos showed Bowling cashing them.

Bowling on Monday came to to the Yorktown Police Department and confessed to the crimes, Harless reported, saying that he had stolen the checks while feeding one of the victim’s dog. He also said he had confessed to one of the victims over the weekend “because he felt bad about what he had done.”

Booked into the Delaware County jail on Monday night, he had been released on bond by Wednesday.

Bowling was convicted of a sex crime — enticing someone under the age of 16 through interactive computer use — in New Haven, Conn., in April 2010. He apparently completed a jail term in that case in February 2011, and his probation was transferred to Delaware County.

In April, he was charged with two misdemeanors in Muncie City Court, failure of a sex offender to possess identification, and possession of marijuana. That case is pending.

Bowling was convicted of possession of marijuana in Yorktown Town Court in 2007.

Contact news reporter Douglas Walker at (765) 213-5851. You can also follow him on Twitter @DouglasWalkerSP.